City manager to launch national search for new chief

May 14, 2013

Outgoing Cincinnati Police Chief James Craig (left) shares a laugh with interim Chief Paul Humphries after announcing that he is leaving Cincinnati to take the top police post in Detroit, his hometown, during a press conference at City Hall. / The Enquirer/Gary Landers

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Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. plans to launch a national search for a new police chief in Cincinnati shortly after current Chief James Craig told the Enquirer he plans to take the top cop job in Detroit, his hometown.

“Beginning (Wednesday), I will start the process of a nationwide search for the next chief of police for this city,” Dohoney said. “We will look for the best man or woman available in America that is the right fit for our department.”

He said that he expects the search to last through most of the summer, and said that he will call council back in from their break if need be.

Dohoney said he would have preferred that Craig continue his career in Cincinnati. But he said that he always wants people to do what’s best for them and for their families.

“The search for a new chief will be led by the city manager,” Mayor Mark Mallory stressed, adding that Dohoney will not have to “acquiesce” to anyone’s choice, including the mayor and city council.

Issue 5, a charter amendment voters approved in 2001 – roughly seven months after a race riot divided the city – allows Dohoney to fill the position “however he sees fit,” according to the city's law office.

Mallory and Dohoney commended Craig for being an excellent leader: fair, reducing crime, listening to the community, improving morale within the department and working with the rank-and-file officers to make changes to uniforms and work hours.

Craig’s exit comes as 66 Cincinnati police officers face pink slips in the city’s effort to balance a $35 million deficit. Reorganization of the department will now be left in his command staff’s hands.

Assistant Chief Paul Humphries will serve as interim chief after Craig steps down June 22, Dohoney said Wednesday. Humphries and Assistant Chief James Whalen declined to discuss if they are going to apply for the chief's job.

Craig left his job as chief of police in Portland, Maine to become the first person in CPD’s 200-year history to be hired from outside its ranks. But his career began in Detroit in 1977. Less than three years later he was laid off in a large downsizing of the Detroit department – a situation not unlike the one facing many Cincinnati officers today.

After Detroit let him go, Craig accepted an offer from the Los Angeles Police Department where he rose through the ranks from 1981 to 2009 and retired as a commanding officer before moving to Portland to become chief there in May 2009.

Craig held the Portland post a little less than two years, almost the exact length of time he spent here in Cincinnati. He has made no secret of his desire to return to Detroit, where his family lives.